Sex Crimes

She was a popular teacher, known for working past midnight on school projects and being a compassionate ally to her students. He was one of the special ones: a sixth-grader with whom she had recognized a kindred spirit when he entered her class, talented and intense.

Occidental College's underreporting of sexual assault allegations was far more extensive than campus officials have acknowledged, according to documents, interviews and a Times review of two confidential federal complaints against the school. In October, the college said it had failed to disclose two dozen sexual assault allegations made by students in 2010 and 2011, a potential violation of federal law. At the time, officials said their revisions represented a complete accounting of the assault cases.

In the predawn darkness, the floodlit cathedral looms like a snow-covered mountain over this poor neighborhood. Inside, 15,000 faithful have been waiting for two hours, but they show no sign of fatigue. They are expecting their Moses. Suddenly, a pudgy preacher in a brown suit strides up the marble stairs to the altar, a golden tree trunk. Thousands of worshipers break into chest-heaving sobs. Others furiously wave white handkerchiefs and cry "Glory to Christ!" Samuel Joaquin has arrived.

A grandfather in Maywood has been convicted of sex crimes involving his grandchildren, nieces and others, authorities said this week. Jose Olivarez Rodriguez, 59, was convicted Friday of 14 felony counts of lewd acts with a child involving six different female children between 5 and 14 years old, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The crimes occurred over a two-year period in Maywood. Rodriguez's relationship to the victims included grandfather, uncle and the babysitter's husband, the Sheriff's Department said.

It was supposed to be a brief stop at the Primadonna casino, 43 miles south of Las Vegas, but one poker game led to another. By 3 a.m. May 25, 1997, Jeremy Strohmeyer and David Cash were tired of hanging around the arcade, waiting for David's dad. Bored, the two 18-year-olds decided to urinate on two coin-operated games. David chose Big Bertha, whose polka-dot dress flared when players hurled balls into her gaping red mouth. Jeremy selected a helicopter game. Then a wall socket.

The Board of Supervisors approved a program to monitor high-risk people on probation, such as sex offenders, with cellphones and ankle bands that serve as global-positioning trackers. Irvine-based Sentinel Offender Services also will provide GPS tracking, plus electronic radio monitoring for low-risk offenders, through 2008. County officials said its probation department is the first in the state to use GPS.

June 7, 1994 | JULIE TAMAKI and ART PINE, TIMES STAFF WRITER and TIMES STAFF WRITER

A former Brentwood doctor was sentenced to 13 years in prison Monday for sexually assaulting four female patients, including two women who were patients at a Panorama City clinic. Superior Court Judge Charles Horan imposed the sentence on Yahya Lavi, 56, during a hearing in Downtown Los Angeles, despite pleas by prosecutors to impose a tougher 37-year prison term. Deputy Dist. Atty.

A Navy psychiatrist who formerly directed the drug and alcohol rehabilitation unit at Camp Pendleton faces a general court-martial today on a range of charges, including larceny, attempted sodomy and sexual harassment of clients and co-workers. The controversy swirling around Cmdr. William J.

Perpetrators of sex crimes against children would face longer prison sentences, including the possibility of life behind bars, under a bill approved by the House Judiciary Committee. The measure goes to the House for a vote. The legislation would double to 10 years in prison the penalty for enticing a minor to cross state lines to engage in illegal sexual activity. Anyone using the mail, Internet or other means to contact a minor for sexual activity could go to prison for up to five years.

A San Jose sex crimes detective pleaded guilty to committing a sex crime and will serve at least six months in jail, prosecutors said Friday. Tony Fregger, 34, who has worked as a San Jose police officer since 2005, turned himself in last July after his computer was seized by authorities. The investigation into Fregger showed he had solicited and received explicit photos on Facebook from a girl he knew was a minor, according to the San Jose Mercury News . "Certainly as a police officer in the sex crimes unit, he knew what he was doing was illegal," said Santa Clara County prosecutor David Ezgar.

A 43-year-old mother from Irvine was found guilty this week of a host of sex crimes involving two teenage boys. Nicole Ethel McMillen was convicted on three felony counts of oral copulation of a minor under 16 and four felony counts of lewd acts on a child. The victims were 14 and 16 years old, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. Evidence presented at trial showed McMillen had an ongoing sexual relationship with the 16-year-old boy for more than a year in 2005 and 2006, the district attorney's office said.

With classes finished for the day at Vista Murrieta High School, members of the highly ranked Broncos football team counted their jumping jacks and broke off into drills, the sun gleaming off their helmets. The cross-country team sprinted by, and other students climbed into cars and buses, some lugging musical instruments. Days after two 17-year-old football players were charged with felony sex crimes involving underage victims - some younger than 14 - parents and students at the Murrieta campus were swift to condemn such behavior as well as defend the school.

Two Vista Murrieta High School football players are expected to be arraigned Tuesday on sex crime charges involving six underage girls. Both players are 17 and have been removed from the team, Coach Coley Candaele said. One player is charged with two counts of forcible rape involving two victims, two counts of lewd acts with a girl under 14 and three counts of imprisonment involving three additional victims, according to John Hall, a spokesman for the Riverside County district attorney's office.

Two Vista Murrieta High School football players have been charged with sex crimes involving six victims, authorities said Monday. Both players are 17 and are charged with crimes including forcible rape, lewd acts and dissuading an individual from reporting a crime, according to the Riverside County district attorney's office. Vista Murrieta is a top-ranked team and is 2-0 so far this season. For additional details, see the Varsity Times Insider blog. ALSO: As Rim fire rages, more than 400 square miles have burned Well spewing methane, water in Hawthorne is partially plugged Suspects may have rammed car before stabbing man in Santa Clarita eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

More jail inmates in Los Angeles County are being set free after serving only a fraction of their sentences, a Times investigation has found. The releases are benefiting even inmates sentenced to jail for violence and sex crimes, with those offenders released after serving as little as 40% of the time they were meant to spend behind bars, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department records obtained by The Times under the California...

Belgium's government approved tough measures to fight sex crimes as the nation reeled from what authorities say was a deadly pedophile ring. A 2-week-old investigation has turned up the remains of two young girls, brought 10 arrests and prompted strong criticism of Belgium's police and judicial system.

A political aide from the Antelope Valley has pleaded not guilty to sex crimes allegedly committed against a 12-year-old boy who was in his care, authorities said Tuesday. Howard L. Brooks, 61, a field representative for Republican Assemblyman Phil Wyman, was arraigned Monday after turning himself in Friday to sheriff's deputies. He is scheduled to return to court as early as Nov.

A former Redlands high school teacher convicted of having sex with her students could next face a civil suit, an attorney for one of her victims said. Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst, 28, pleaded guilty to sex acts with three boys and was sentenced to one year in jail this week. She gave birth to a child by one of the boys this summer. With the plea deal, she admitted guilt to six counts -- four for unlawful sexual intercourse and two for oral copulation of a person under 18. "This is a slap in the face to the victims," said attorney Heather Cullen, whose law firm represents the family of the boy who fathered a child with Whitehurst.

July 31, 2013 | By Andrew Blankstein, This post has been corrected. See notes below for details.

A former Redlands high school teacher whose child was fathered by a teenage student will spend a year in jail after pleading guilty Wednesday in a San Bernardino County courtroom to half a dozen sex crimes. Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst, 28, had faced 41 felony counts of sex crimes with three boys she taught. With the plea deal, she admitted guilt to six counts -- four for un lawful sexual intercourse and two for oral copulation of a person under 18. In addition to jail, Whitehurst was placed on five years' probation, must undergo counseling and register for life as a sex offender.